Long Drenches Poems

Oh my soul what hails you?
Oh my soul what awaits you?
Oh my soul why are you in despair?
Oh my soul I have not deserted you
Oh my soul I have something to share
Oh my soul I...

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Dream of Infinity
by Michael R. Burch

Have you tasted the bitterness of tears of despair?
Have you watched the sun sink through such pale, balmless air
that your soul sought its shell like a crab on a beach,
then...

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These are early poems of mine, written as a high school student in the 10th grade. 

as Time walked by
by Michael R. Burch

yesterday i dreamed of us again,
when
the air, like honey,
trickled through cushioning grasses,
softly flowing,...

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Breathe in and out and don’t fall for the lies of society
We are breathing in pollution of poverty
Heartaches are blameless, but I am blameful 
Shattered and insignificant…left on the floor…wasteful

Apparently, you are different and better...

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Placed third in:
Raining in Summer Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Ink Empress

                         ...

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Startling as the rise of the moon
On autumn’s twilight, beautiful as June
still breath of joy, falling like stars
silent truths…

stunning as the august wind
warming to the touch, grace descends 
music in glorious praises, a maze
reflecting the...

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There’s something wrong…
Something’s missing…
I long to know the answers to my prayers
I’m sorry for being those “disobeyers”
There’s something wrong with this picture
You make me feel slightly unsure
Our upcoming future is quite a blur
Quite a blur
There’s...

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Il pleure dans mon coeur (“It rains in my heart”)
by Paul Verlaine
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

It rains in my heart
As it rains on the town;
Heavy languor and dark
Drenches my heart.

Oh, the sweet-sounding rain
Cleansing pavements...

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Line of inquiry:

“as we passed her she did wilt
which caused in us sense of guilt
since our stance perhaps did cause
to put her heart’s joy on pause
though we’re gentle, not hostile
we diminished her soul’s smile
since our...

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Sleepy eyes awake to crashing sounds on window panes
                 Creeping animals scramble around bristling forests nesting for a spot
...

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Rage, despair, grief, devastation and regret, flowing like 
hot lava spewing out from a volcano through my veins,
pushing out my red hot blood onto this white leaf;
For suddenly and without any fair warning came,
an enormous...

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Nascent pristine hopes sprout stealthily
  from the submerged swamps of anxieties,
     parched earth frets over consequences
       to fuel naive hopes into realities of void
...

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Last hopes which lay

Flashing lightening and huge thunders,
And marching rain through blackening nights,
Sitting on top of shaking chair
With hopes of passing time under darkening nightmare;


Silent act of lightening candle
And sticking to the lonliness at stay
And...

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I saw blue memoirs fell from momma's eyes, as she looked into my brown retinas. Swiftly she removed my medicated glasses, a dominant gene I carved out from papa's bottled eyes. "Oh!  sorry D!,"...

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I gave a piece of myself,
Something gentle and true
Trickling with teardrops,
Melting the darkness, the fear
With kindness and carefully 
Laced feelings, beauty – honesty
Sincere as the wind, rustling
Laughter from the dawn
Where I laid up all my...

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“To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.” — Rosa Parks

Faded dreams, feelings,
Blessed by faith who believes,
When the shadows despair,
And the...

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I plant a seed by the sea and allow faith and courage to water it for thee I watch it grow with the passing wind until the heaven above move the substance within and the...

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I love to visit the church; to wander in the graveyard…
Flitting fleet-footed amongst the copse of corpses, 
The grey stone groves of death – 
I love those humble long-suffering tombstones,
They rear their bleak blackened heads...

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Youth
I remember you well
The happiness and the perfection
A lifetime in which to dwell
No worries to block my path
Playing make believe with my dolls
Unaware of the passage of time and age
Oblivious to hate and cruelty
Happy...

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An expedition back into the dark jungle,
a rain forest shrouded in the haze of history,
brought about by hidden enterprises.

Lost and Found

Mandy

Battle weary am I, war warn.
To shreds has my heart been, torn.
From my middle Daughter,...

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Stepping down from the AC coach
on to the railway platform
A hot wave of salty moist air 
drenches me
On my customary visit
to this city I'm tethered to
by my memories..
She coyly calls herself Chennai
like a new bride...

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She showers,
She falls,
She drenches us...
But she shows off a rainbow... 

She shines,
She bursts,
She burns us sometimes...
But she lets the gentle breeze blow... 

She makes us love the rain
She makes us hate it again
She makes us...

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Written: August 18, 2023
Pantoum Poetry Contest                      Sponsored by: Regina McIntosh
______________________________________________________________

The moon rises high in...

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It was celebration of the Panguni Pongal for the sixth day
People assemble before the Goddess Kaali, to pray

Big sand pot is full of water
Below is a stock of wood, set to enter

Water is set to...

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BENEATH MY SHADOW-

As I walk my shadow starts to fade,
Oblivious to the fact I believe –my mind is playing some misty games;
With the moon lit path ‘my shadow’ starts to shine as if getting ‘enlightened’,
The...

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